Wednesday, December 1st 2010 – Stade de Riviere Pilote, Martinique: Guadeloupe needed a win whereas a draw would have been enough to see Antigua and Barbuda obtain a semi-final berth. With Guadeloupe requiring all three points it ensured we would not have to endure the stale mate of last night’s opener, and the crowd certainly turned out in Riviere Pilote to witness the occasion.

Guadeloupe opened the brighter side and asserted most of the early pressure with Belson gaining control of the middle of the park, the tactic of bringing their wide players into play was evident right from the start.

The first real action came after 15 minutes when a great pass was sprayed diagonally from the Guadeloupe defense to the right winger Nabab, who played a neat interchange with Loval but then strayed offside for the return pass, it was a tight call and prevented a clear chance on goal.

Antigua relied mainly on set pieces in the opening exchanges to create their danger moments, while Guadeloupe coped well you could sense Antigua’s anticipation when the chances arose as they pushed their big men forward.

There was a penalty shout for Guadeloupe on 20 minutes, when good work down the right side again, resulted in a low cross being delivered across the face of the goal and just when attacker was going to strike, he was bundled to the ground. Fair challenge judged the referee.

On 33 minutes Guadeloupe won good possession in midfield and had a chance to break, they created an opening down the inside left channel only for the attacker’s first touch to let him down. Had he managed to get it under control he would have had a very good shooting chance. An opportunity wasted one felt.

Guadeloupe continued to dominate possession and pile on the pressure. It paid off when on 41 minutes a cross from the left hand bye line from Cedric Collet into a crowded penalty area was diverted goalwards by the Jean Luc Lamboude. It was a vital touch as no defender in a yellow shirt was able to prevent it reaching the back of the net. A crucial intervention from the central defender who was in the right place at the right time.

Antigua came out in the second half and posed a more attacking threat from the beginning. It was now up to them to force the issue if they wanted to stay in the competition.

However this tactic was going to allow space at the back for Guadeloupe to exploit and this they very nearly did on two occasions in the opening 15 minutes of the half. Both chances were set up by Collet down the left. The first one fell to the head of Gendrey when he managed to climb highest at the back post but could not divert the chance goalward. The second chance came on 60 minutes when the left hand cross was headed back across the goals for Mickael Nicoise to control well inside the box and shoot low toward the goal only to be denied by the post. It was a very good sequence from Guadeloupe which deserved better.

The mid period of the second half was even, with neither side creating a clear cut chance. Antigua pushed more men forward as the half wore on and it was Guadeloupe who was relying on the counter attack now.

With 7 minutes remaining Antigua had their best chance of the match when from a long ball Peter Byers was in a race to the ball with the Guadeloupe keeper Yohann Bus, luckily for Guadeloupe Bus was brave and got down well at the feet of the Antiguan striker.

With 5 minutes to go Antigua made life a little more when Dave Carr got sent off for his second bookable offense.

Antigua continued to throw men forward in the remaining minutes especially from set piece opportunities. On 90 minutes they had Bus in trouble from a well delivered cross when he failed to claim the ball and appeared to collide with the Antiguan attacker inside the box. The referee gave a free out when many thought it could have been a penalty. This was the last opportunity from Antigua and Barbuda who did their nation proud in the competition. Guadeloupe had to hope that Jamaica would not lose to Guyana. If Guyana could claim three points in the next match they would qualify ahead of Guadeloupe. An intriguing tie in store.

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